What is a team to do when its best pitcher is also its best run producer?

The answer is to have him swing the bat as often as possible — even if the pitcher is 22-year-old Shohei Otani and has a record-setting 163-kph fastball. That, in a nutshell, is why Japan's fastest pitcher is not pitching even when he's fit and ready to go.

Although baseball people never tire of saying, "You can't have enough pitching," the Nippon Ham Fighters are proof positive that you can. When a player hits a home run every 12.6 at-bats, as Otani is currently doing, while hitting for a high average and drawing walks, you let him focus on hitting, not because it looks good, but because it helps you win more games.